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Chelsea's season presently experiencing metamorphosis is under serious tactical, situational and emotional turmoil. It's been five weeks since the Blues - at one point in serious contention for a spot in the top two - scalped three points from a Premier League game.
In such circumstances, a querulous fan base, so used to witnessing a constant influx of silverware, has simply eroded with contrasting opinions, tetchy ideas and reactionary perspectives.
Just before the turn of the decade, when an itchy, three-man back line struggled to carve openings against Arsenal away from home, the proactive Frank Lampard tweaked his system, eventually returning to a back four and indeed, a massive victory.
But when a controversial three points were squandered against Manchester United, many supporters questioned the management's tactics on why, in the case of injuries to the likes of Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi, did Lampard not slot in a 'pragmatic' back three. Mind you, the same fan base.
The same sector of supporters, who didn't even break a sweat in pointing fingers at 21-year-old Mason Mount - a player not afraid to break defensive lines with sharp movement or create chances - totally overlooked the youngster's input as he went on to strike the frame of goal besides creating three goal-scoring chances.
All of a sudden, Andreas Christensen's resurgence to the reckoning in the first team has become history after Chelsea shipped two goals cheaply against the Red Devils in their latest Premier League encounter.
The most startling of all, however, is how when these purists take to social media and other such platforms to deploy their preferred starting XI, they miss out on arguably Chelsea's most remarkable breed of talent - N'Golo Kante. The man who is billed to have two pairs of lungs and one of football's sharpest minds, according to a few, must even be offloaded to accommodate a couple of record-breaking signings. Perturbing, to say the least.
Why Kante is not merely the problem
It's no secret that the enigma that is Kante, is being dragged out of his favoured position.
Earlier this season, Lampard defended his utilisation of the player in an advanced position ahead of Jorginho by saying,
"I haven’t always played him in the same role as I’m guessing what you’re saying with Sarri is a slightly forward, right-sided No.8."
No, Frank. Kante's heat maps this term indicate the player has been moved much ahead of a pivoted bracket in midfield; in pockets where he is not just asked to apply the finish but also supply balls or run in behind.
He can run 12 kilometres, chase the ball in the 95th minute of the game and shut gaps like he's reading a map from a pan-optic vision, but the last thing one should ask of the Frenchman is get on the inside right of the flank and provide incisive passes. It's a little too awkward for him whenever he is ahead of the ball and the players around him.
Kante has revolutionised the perimeters of work ethic, awareness and an infectious tendency to keep at it without any fuss in modern football. In a proven case such as this, Lampard must construct and weave his team, step by step, around Kante, and not beside or behind him.
Because when Jorginho was subbed off in the 2-2 draw for Mateo Kovacic against Leicester City, the latter was tasked with forming the base in midfield, while Kante drove his way through ahead of the wingers, ultimately proving ineffective versus his former side.
If the in-form, lustrous maestros in Jorginho and Kovacic are in no way to be benched, there's no harm in fielding a 4-2-1-3, with Jorginho alongside Kante - dictating the play and getting in front of opponents, and Kovacic - an underrated ball-carrier, dribbler and hard worker, just a few metres ahead of them.
Not only would the same provide defensive stability, but also allow the full backs to venture forward. And perhaps, Lampard and the rest of Stamford Bridge could just sit to witness an awe-inspiring, seraphic N'Golo Kante work a puppet show on the football pitch.
Demystifying Kante's array of injuries
A stubborn yet canny Maurizio Sarri introduced the football world to a unique dimension of Kante.
The player was always capable to breaking lines with the ball, linking up play and starting attacks effortlessly. But that, would only serve as an add-on to the chief impetus he owned. Sarri however, took his agile credentials and moved him up the pitch, where the World Cup finished with his best-ever season in terms of goals and assists.
The story has been similar this season, but Kante has succumbed to various injuries to his ankle, hamstring and groin. He hobbled off just 12 minutes earlier yesterday, with Lampard also reporting that this one could be the worst of the lot.
For a player with the capacity of racking up over 45 appearances a season, the range and occurrence rates of injuries seem absurd, and not just a case of bad luck or coincidence.
Reports from a variety of reliable sources outside Stamford Bridge disclosed Kante's injury status ahead of the UEFA Europa League final in Baku, claiming that the midfielder wasn't fit to face Arsenal. However, Sarri opted to play him after a few pain-killing injections; the price of which the player, fans and his manager are paying now.
More so, it could also be a case of working harder with the ball, or transfusing other qualities of attack-minded midfielders into his game.
Despite the same, Chelsea and its supporters should back the player to return with a bang in the midst of this tumultuous period in the treatment room.
Why we must remember Kante's otherworldly abilities
After all, the player has given it his all for the club ever since he switched from Leicester City. Kante clinched the PFA Player of the Season in his very first season at West London, before playing a massive hand in Chelsea's FA Cup and most recently, the Europa League triumphs.
The man with the most contagious smile in world football can tackle to near perfection. He can save his side's defensive order, act as a smokescreen, break opposition attacks through impeccable sharpness, or intercept. What sent the fraternity into a frenzy many a time was the constancy at which he would read the game and thus, always be ahead of his marker.
Sergej Milinković-Savić has been suggested by many as a replacement, but with due respect, the Serbian hardly possesses the mobility and tactical awareness that Kante does.
To have someone who can leave a telling influence both on and off the pitch through his sheer capability to keep his head down and serve by example, is a rare commodity in modern football.
He may not be a passer who can split defences or a midfielder known for letting them fly from distance, but he is an engine that requires little maintenance. Kante knows what it is like to win trophies, and win matches single-handedly.
After all, even Lampard is in the earlier stages of a learning parabola. A two-pointed educational relationship between himself and Kante is what Chelsea need - in order for one to feed off the other's specialty. Maybe next season, the system that 'Super Frankie' is trying to imbibe in the Chelsea culture is going to pay dividends.
A host of matters have come in the form of stumbling blocks in front of a mammoth Chelsea Football Club, and it's only wise to trust their best midfielder; someone who has his best couple of years ahead of him.
Chelsea must keep N'Golo Kante at all cost, and keep him smiling.
